Vacuum cleaner bag



July 7, 1942. A. GLESSER ETAL VACUUM CLEANER BAG Filed March 2, 1940 4 Sheets-Sheet l A1. 5527- 6'4 655? HAP/m .Scwmxe TZ INVENTORS.

ATTORNEYS.

July 7, 1942. A. GLESSER ETAL 2,289,009

VACUUM CLEANER BAG 4 Sheets-Sheet 2 Filed March 2, 1940 A1. 55/??- 61 [5352 HAPPY- Scam/e72 NVENTORS. BY r fiw zwrms'ss:

ATTORNEY3.

July 7, 1942. IA. GLESSER ETAL VACUUM CLEANER BAG Filed March 2. 1940 4 Sheets-Sheet I5 I NV EN TORS.

A4 55 7- 04 35.52 haw/er ficwh/nerz WITNESS.

ATTORNEYS.

y 1942- A. GLESSER ETAL 2,289,009

VACUUM CLEANER BAG Filed March 2, 1940 4 Sheets-Sheet 4 ZZZ- 5. Z0.

ALBEE 7' GLESSEE HARE) Jaw/M272 INVENTORS.

BY N/Y/VZSS. f

ATTORNEYS.

Patented July 7, 1942 VACUUM CLEANER BAG Albert Glesserand Harry New York, N. Y.

Schwartz,

Application Match 2, 1940, Serial No. 321,876

4 Claims. (Cl. 183-52) This invention relates to improvements in vac-' uum cleaner bags.

The primary object of the inventionresides in a vacuum cleaner bag which may be easily and quickly emptied of accumulated dust and dirt without removing the filter bag from the suction head and handle of a. vacuum cleaner, and without spillage and the escape of dust particles during an emptying operation.

Another feature of the invention is to provide a clamp type closing device for tightly closing the discharge opening by bringing the walls thereof into fiat folded engagement, there being means by which the Joint between the flat folded walls of the discharge opening may be sealed to prevent any possibility of particles of dirt and dust from escaping through the closed discharge opening.

A further feature of the inventionis to provide a reinforced collar about the discharge opening of the filter bag to which the open end of a disposable paper bag may be snugly and detachably connected. The closing device for the discharge opening permitsthe disposable paper bag to be fitted to the folded collar, the collar unfclded to open the discharge opening to enable the contents of the filter bag to pass into the paper bag, and permits subsequent folding of the collar to close the discharge opening before separating the paper bag from the collar, thus preventing the escape of dust particles during a bag emptying operation.

A further feature of the invention resides in the novel manner in which the spring actuated closing device is mounted and concealed in the walls of the discharge opening. I

Other novel features of the invention will appear as the following specification is read in conjunction with the accompanying drawings, in which:

Figure 1 is a perspective view of a vacuum cleaner bag constructed in accordance with the invention, the discharge opening being shown closed and sealed.

Figure 2 is an enlarged detail vertical transverse sectional view on the line 2--2 of Figure 1.

Figure 3 is a detail fragmentary perspective view illustrating the manner in which the folded collar is released from its infolded sealed position.

Figure 4 is a fragmentary side elevational view of the folded collar fully released from its infolded sealed position.

Figure 5 is an enlarged horizontal sectional View on the line 5-5 of Figure 4.

Figure 6 is an enlarged vertical sectional view on the line 8-8 of Figure 4. I

Figure 7 is a detail perspective view illustrating a disposable dust and; dirt receiving bag fitted upon the folded collar.

Figure 8 is a vertical transverse sectional view on the line 88 of Figure 7, and illustrating a pair of hands grasping the pull tabs. I

Figure 9 is a detail perspective view illustrating the collar in unfolded position to effect opening of the discharge opening.

Figure 10 is an enlarged detail vertical sectlonal view on the line lU-lll of Figure 9 with the dust receptacle attached to the open collar.

Figure 11 is a perspective view of the closing device per se, the same being shown open in full lines and closed in dotted lines.

Figure 12 is a detail perspective view of a modified form of sealing means for the discharge opening.

Figure 13 is an enlarged detail vertical transverse sectional view on the line l3-l3 of Figure 12.

Figure 14 is a fragmentary side elevational view of one of the blank sections from which the bag is constructed and illustrating the shape of the collar before it is folded into tubular formation.

Figure 15 is a view similar to Figure 14 and illustrating the manner in which the inner wall of thetubular collar may be made of leather.

Figure 16 is a fragmentary side elevational view in which the folded ends of the collar are parallel instead of inwardly converging.

Figure 17 is a fragmentary perspective view of a modified form of the invention wherein the collar is disposed within the bag body.

Figure 18 is a fragmentary sectional perspectlve view of the form of the invention illustrated in Figure 17 and showing a disposable P p r bag at c ed to the bag over the closed form of disposable bag which may be used in association with the vacuum cleaner bag.

Figure 23 is a fragmentary vertical sectional view through the upper end of the has shown in Figure 22, but illustrating the open end thereof in expanded position.

Referring to the drawings by reference characters and at present to the form of the invention illustrated in Figures 1 to 14 inclusive, the numeral Ill designates a vacuum cleaner bag constructed in accordance with our invention and which includes a filter bag body I I which is closed at its top as at l2, and which has its lower end provided with a reduced cylindrical neck which defines an inlet opening I3. The lower inlet end of the bag body is adapted to be connected .to the head of a vacuum cleaner while the upper .closed end is suspended from the handle thereof in the well known conventional manner. The bag body II is constructed of two like sections of filter cloth i4-l4 which are secured together along their front edges by stitching defining a front seam IS. The rear edges of the sections i4-l4 are likewise stitched defining a rear seam I6 but a portion of the rear edges adjacent the lower end of the bag body are left unstitched to provide a dirt and dust discharge opening [1. In view of the nature of the type of closing device which we employ for facilitating the closing and opening of the discharge opening ll, we provide a novel form of tubular collar I 8 which is integral with the sections I 4- and which collar normally extends outwardly from the walls of the discharge opening H. To form the tubular collar 18, the sections l4-l4 are provided with alined extensions A as illustrated in Figure 14, and each extension A is foldable upon itself on the dot and dash line B to provide an outer wall l9 and an inner wall 20. Integral with the ends of the outer wall l9 are triangular inwardly foldable end flaps 2l-2l and integral with the ends of the inner wall 20 are wing flaps 22-22. Before folding and stitching the extensions A to form the tubular collar Hi, the closing device is positioned relative thereto and a description of the closing device will now be given.

The closing devicewhich we employ for closing and opening the discharge opening I! is designated 23 in its entirety and is shown per se in Figure 11. The closing device 23 is of the kind set forth in U. S. Letters Patent No. 1,798,945

plates 25-25'in a manner to effect a locking of the jaw members in a fully open position as illustrated in full lines in Figure 11, wherein the eye plate and finger plates are moved to a position off pivotal center and releasably interlock to prevent accidental snapping of the jaw members 24-24 to closed position. As previously stated, closing devices 23 are at present upon the market, but the above description is believed necessary in order to appreciate the use of the same as a means for closing and opening the discharge opening of a vacuum cleaner bag.

To apply the closing device 23 to the tubular collar I8, the inner walls 20 of the extensions A are inserted between the jaw members 24-24 as best seen in Figure 6, after which the inner walls 20-20 are stitched to the respective sections l4-l4 of the bag body by lines of stitching 29-29. The end flaps 2|2l are also stitched together as at 30 in a manner to form inwardly converging shoulders 3| on the collar I8 for a purpose to be hereinafter explained. The folding and stitching of the extensions A about the closing device 23 is performed while the bag body is inside out, after which the bag body is reversed to right side out and which practice is followed in the stitching of articles wherein smooth outer seams are desired.

The stitching 29 is disposed inwardly of the free longitudinal edges of the walls 20 to provide flaps 32 which extend into the bag body with the wing portions 22 extending beyond the ends of the discharge opening and as shown in Figure 6. The flaps 32 serve to seal the joint between the walls of the discharge opening when the same is in closed position in a manner to be hereinafter explained.

From the description thus far, it will be understood that when the closing device 23 is in closed granted to Alfred Lamarthe, March 31, 1931. v

The closing device 23 comprises-apair of spring law members 24-24 in the form of resilient band sebtions, each being transversely bowed and having their incurved portions in confronting relation. The normal tendency of the resilient jaw members 24-24 is to straighten out into contacting engagement with each other as shown in dotted lines in Figure 11, but the jaw members may be spread apart into open band shape as shown in full lines and releasably held in such position against the spring tension placed thereon by reason of the flexing of the same. Each jaw member 24 has an eye plate 25 attached to one end thereof and a finger plate 26 attached to the other end thereof. The finger plate 26 has a pair of spaced inwardly curved fingers 21-21 and an intermediate substantially Z-shaped tongue 28. The Z-shaped tongue 28 of one jaw member passes through the opening in the eye plate 25 of the other jaw member, thus the adjacent ends of the jaw members are pivoted together. The fingers 21-21 are resilient and bear against the inwardly bent outer ends of the eye position, it folds the tubular collar I8 on the shoulders 3|, thus bringing the inner walls 20-20 of the collar into fiat contacting engagement which tightly closes the discharge opening l8. To facilitate manual unfolding of the collar l8 to open position, pull tabs 33-33 are secured to opposite sides of the collar by the stitching 29-29. An operator may grasp the pull tabs 33-33 as illustrated in Figure 8 and by pulling outwardly thereon, cause the jaws 24-24 of the closing device 23 to bow outwardly to open position as illustrated in Figure 9. When the closing device 23 is fully opened, it cocks itself in such position by reason of the fingers 2! and eye plates 25. The collar may be folded by simultaneously pressing upoln opposite sides of the same to release the interlocking of the fingers 2'! and eye plates 25, whereupon the jaw members 24-24 snap to closed position. To prevent wear upon the side walls of the tubular collar l8 there is provided paper liner strips 34 on the'inner sides of the walls l9 and 20, the same being affixed by glue or cement.

To effect a tight seal between the walls of the collar l8 when it is in closed folded position, we fold the same inwardly over the bag body H as illustrated in Figures 1, 2, and 3, and we releasably hold the collar in such position by means of an elongated flap 35 which has one of its longitudinal edges stitched to the bag body as at 36. The fiap 36 has female snap fastener elements 31 which releasably engage male snap fastener elements 38 provided on the adjacent side of the inwardly folded collar. The fiap 35 overlies the folded collar with the male and female snap fastener elements in engaging position with the flaps 32-32 held together by the fold between the collar 13 and the bag body H and which acts to effectively seal the joint between the walls of the folded collar to prevent the escape of dust and dirt therethrough during use of the bag upon a vacuum cleaner.

To facilitate emptying of dust and dirt from the vacuum cleaner bag l without fear of dust or dirt escaping into a room, we apply a bag 39 over the tubular collar I8. The bag 39 is illustrated in Figures '7, 8 and 10, and comprises a flexible paper body 40 having an elastic band 4| mounted in the walls thereof and encircling the open top end of the bag body. The elastic element 4| tends to normally contract the open month end of the bag body and which open mouth is distended and applied to the folded collar 18, in the manner illustrated in Figures 7 and 8. With the bag 39 fitted to the collar it is possible to pull the tabs 33 to unfold the collar l3 to the open position illustrated in Figure 10. When the collar is in the open position shown in Figure 10, dust and dirt from the bag body Il may drop into the disposable paper bag 39, and when the vacuum cleaner bag is emptied of dust and dirt, the collar I9 is again folded by actuating the closing device 23 to closed position, whereupon the paper bag 39 may be disconnected from the folded collar and the bag with its contents thrown away. It will thus be seen that the disposable paper bag 39 is applied to the collar before opening the discharge opening and remains thereon until the contents of the vacuum cleaner bag have been emptied, and the discharge opening again closed, whereby dust and dirt is prevented from escaping to the atmosphere during the vacuum cleaner bag emptying operation.

In Figures 12 and 13, there is illustrated a slight modified form of sealing means. Instead of folding the collar l9 upon the body of the bag, the collar is permitted to extend from the bag at all times, and there is applied to one of the flaps 32, a flexible resilient sealing element 42 which includes a rubber bead 43, and an attaching strip 44, the latter being stitched .at 45 to one of the flaps 32, as best illustrated in Figure 13. As illustrated in dotted lines in Figure 12, the sealing strip l2 extends slightly beyond the ends of the discharge opening, and when the collar I8 is folded, the sealing bead 43 overlies the joint between the inner walls of the collar and tightly presses against the other flap 32, whereby the joint between the folded sections of the collar 18 is tightly sealed against the escape of dust and dirt, during use of the bag upon a vacuum cleaner. In order to prevent accidental separation of the folded walls of the collar Hi, there is provided locking tabs 46, there being one tab on each side of the collar and which has a female element 41 which engages a male element 48 on the other side of the collar H3. The straps 4B are folded over the folded sections of the collar, and secured by the engaging male and female snap fastener elements 41 and 48.

In. Figure 15 of the drawings, there is shown a slightly modified form in which the wall section 29 hereinbefore mentioned consists of a strip of leather 49 which is stitched to the wall l9 by lines of stitching l5. It will thus be seen that the strip of leather 49 constitutes the inner wall of the tubular collar and when the two leather walls are in engagement, it provides a tighter seal than is obtained by the fabric wall 29.

In Figure 16, we have illustrated the collar 18 as being provided with vertical end folds 3 l 3 l instead of the inwardly converging end folds or shoulders 3|3l hereinbefore described.

In Figures 17 to 20 inclusive, there is shown a.

modified form wherein the collar I8 is disposed within the bag body I I instead of being extended therefrom as hereinbefore shown and described.

In view of the similarity of construction between this form of the invention and that previously described, like reference charactersrefer to corresponding parts. In this form, use is also made of the resilient sealing strip 42 which is relied upon for providing an effective seal between the contacting folded walls of the collar l3. In the form of the inlvention shown in Figures 1'7 to 19 there is a slight difference in design of the bag section l4 as will be seen by reference to Figure 20 wherein the wing flaps 2222 are integral with the flaps 32, for in this form, the outer wall l9 of the tubular collar constitutes part of the Wall of the bag body ll. When the inner wall 20 is folded inwardly about the jaw of the closing device, the wing flaps 22 extend beyond the ends of the discharge opening and are stitched to the walls of the bag body as designated by the reference character 5| in Fig. 17.

For facilitating the emptying of the bag body provided with a discharge opening as shown in Figures 17 to 20, there is provided male snap fastener elements 52 on opposite sides of the collar l8, and engageable with the male snap fasteners 52 are female snap fastener elements 53 provided on opposite walls of a paper bag 54. The walls of the bag 54 at the top are in the form of flaps 55 and it is on these flaps that the snap fastener elements 53 are mounted. By reference to Figure 18, it will be seen that the bag 54 may be fitted over the discharge opening when the opening is in closed position by engaging the-female snap fastener elements 53, with the male snap fastener elements 52, after which the pull tabs 33 may be grasped and pulled outwardly to effect opening of the discharge opening and spreading of the walls of the bag 54. Dust and dirt from the vacuum cleaner bag may now be emptied into the bag 54, the discharge opening closed, after which the bag 54 may be disconnected from the vacuum cleaner bag I0, and the bag 54 disposed of.

In Figure 21 of the drawings, there is illustrated a slightly modified form over the pattern shown in Figure 20, wherein a strip of leather 58 is stitched to the bag section M as at 51. The leather strip 56 is cut to form the flap 32, wing flaps 22--22, and the inner wall 20. The leather section 56 is folded over one of the jaws of the closing device in the same manner as previously explained.

In Figures 22 and 23, there is shown a modified form of disposable bag body 58 which has glued to its open end a fabric band 59, which completely encircles-the bag and which extends above the top edge of the paper bag body 58. Attached to the upper free edge of the fabric band 59 is and endless elastic 50, the same being stitched to the fabric at 6i. The elastic 50 tends to normally contract the top end of the fabric band 59 as illustrated in Figure 22, and this contracted mouth of the bag may be expanded over the collar I3 of the form of the invention shown in Figures 1 to 16, inclusive.

Whereas we have illustrated in Figures 14, 15, 20, and 21 plan views of the various cut-outs of the vacuum cleaner bag sections to form the tubular collar in which the closing device 23 is enclosed, the same may be embodied in ladies hand bags equipped with a like closing device without departing from the spirit of our invention,

While we have shown and described what we consider to be the most practical embodiments oi. our invention, we wish it to be understood that such changes in construction and design as come within the scope of the appended claims. may be resorted to if desired.

Having thus described the invention, what, we claim as new and desire to secure by Letters Patent of the United States, is:

1. In a vacuum cleaner bag, a filter bag body having a discharge opening therein, a closing device mounted in the walls of the discharge opening to facilitate opening and closing or the discharge opening and to efiect stiflening of the walls thereof, a disposable dirt and dust receiving paper bag adapted to have its open end fitted about the stiffened walls of the discharge opening, and elastic means provided on the walls of the paper bag at the open end thereof for contracting the open end of the bag about the stifl'ened walls oi! the discharge opening prior to actuation of the closing device to open position and for securing the paper bag in such position during the opening and closing of the discharge opening upon actuation of the closing device thereto.

2. A vacuum cleaner bag comprising a filter bag body having a discharge opening in the rear of said body adjacent the lower end thereof, a tubular collar connected to and extending from said bag body and surrounding said discharge opening, resilient means acting upon and disposed within said collar to flatly fold opposed walls thereof against each other to close said discharge opening, pull tabs connected to opposite sides of said collar to facilitate the manual unfolding of the collar against the action of said resilient means, releasable means acting to hold the collar in unfolded open position against the action of said resilient means, a disposable dust and dirt receiving bag, and means for detachably connecting the open mouth end of the bag to the collar when in closed folded position without interfering with the subsequent unfolding of the collar to open position whereby the contents of the bag body may be discharged directly into the dust and dirt receiving bag and the collar subsequently folded to closed position before separation of the dust and dirt receiving bag from the collar.

3. A vacuum cleaner bag comprising a filter bag body having a discharge opening provided therein, a tubular collar integral with and disposed within the bag body and surrounding the discharge opening, a closing device for facilitating the closing and opening or the discharge opening including a pair of fiat resilient Jaw members completely enclosed in the tubular collar and disposed in opposed relation with their adjacent ends hingedly connected to normally hold the collar in a flat folded closed position to close the discharge opening, pull tabs securedto the exterior of the bag body at opposite sides of the discharge opening to facilitate manual outward flexing of the jaw members to spread the walls of the discharge opening to open position, a disposable dust and dirt receiving paper bag, said paper bag being normally flatly folded, and separable coacting fastener elements on opposed walls of the paper bag adjacent its open end and on opposed walls of the discharge opering for detachably securing the paper bag over the discharge opening in the filter bag whereby the open end of the bag wall is spread apart to enable dust and dirt from the filter bag to be emptied directly into the paper bag upon opening of the discharge opening.

4. A vacuum cleaner bag comprising a filter bag body closed at its top and having a discharge opening therein adjacent the bottom thereof, closed Dockets provided in the opposed Walls of said discharge opening communicating at their ends, a closing device including a pair of resilient members which normally are disposed flat against each other when in closed position and which define a ring when in open outwardly bowed position, said resilient members being respectively disposed in said pockets for normally holding the opposed walls of said discharge opening in closed position and for spreading the walls of said discharge opening apart when the closing device is in open position to enable the emptying of any accumulated dust and dirt from said bag body through said discharge opening, said closing device acting to reenforce the walls of the discharge opening to provide a rigid attaching collar, a disposable dust and dirt receiving bag having an elastic mouth adapted to be distended over the attaching collar for support thereby, whereby said bag may be applied over the discharge opening prior to actuation of the closing device to open position, to receive dust and dirt discharged from the discharge opening upon subsequent actuation of the closing device to open position and remain thereon until actuation of the closing de-- vice to closed position.

- ALBERT GLESSER.

HARRY SCHWARTZ. 

